RNL Claims Stem Cell Treatment Relieved Arthritis

A press release from RNL BIO claims that their stem cell treatment helped an American artist with a severe case of arthritis. I would be skeptical, but I’ve seen dogs benefiting from this treatment, so maybe it works in some cases. Who knows? Still, it seems awfully fast that they came up with this treatment because it was just last January that RNL announced that they had cloned puppies using the nucleus from stem cells derived from fat tissues. Apparently they have been using this stem-cell-from-fat technique for a number of different things…?

One must note that one of the guys behind RNL is Lee Byeong-cheon, who does a lot of dog cloning at Seoul National University. He and Hwang Woo-suk used to work in the same lab, but Hwang was fired and now has his own enterprise going. I’m not quite sure who is in charge of the adult stem cell research at RNL; maybe I should ask.

Here is the press release:

John Lawson Cullison, Jr., an artist known for his work in the genre of visionary realism or “new age art,” lost his ability to paint due to the effects of arthritis. This incurable condition is due to the degeneration in cartilage tissue and symptoms include: pain, tenderness in the joints, stiffness, loss of flexibility, bone spurs and severe swelling. Pain management and joint replacement surgery are the typical means to treating this condition. Cullison was taking prescription pain medication for over 15 years when he finally decided to seek treatment that was unavailable in the United States.

RNL Bio, a South Korean adult stem cell therapy company, developed a method to take one’s own stem cells from fat tissue and make identical copies that have no genetic modifications and no cancer risks so that high doses of stem cells can be administered back into the body. The stem cells that come from fat tissue can easily form new tissues. Given that characteristic, the stem cells have the capacity to treat any tissue degenerative disease which includes, Parkinson’s Disease, Spinal Cord Injury, Renal Failure, among many. When Cullison heard of the treatment, he sent a small fat sample to RNL Bio, where the cells would be manufactured under the strictest safety and quality conditions.

February 2009, Cullison made the trip to Seoul, South Korea where he was escorted by RNL staff to The Sunrise Regenerative Medical Center, their stem cell hospital in Yanji, China to receive intravenous and local injections of his own stem cells. When asked about his decision to seek this new and developing treatment, he said, “I had more faith in that [the fact that RNL was using my own stem cells] because I knew that I would be receiving the material that genetically was supposed to be in me.”.

A week after his injection, Cullison began to see small improvements and after two weeks, he no longer needed his cane to walk. He noticed that his joints were feeling better, his vision was improving to the point that his glasses were outdated, his eyes were getting bluer (eye pigmentation is often an indicator of good health) and his legs were getting stronger. “This is major improvement and it’s only been 2 weeks! Six months from now, I’ll be doing back-flips!” Only three weeks post treatment, Cullison reported that he was no longer taking any medication and back to painting his pictures.

President and CEO of RNL Bio, Dr. Jeong Chan Ra said, “John Cullison arrived in Korea as an old man. He is returning to his home, an adolescent”. After witnessing the remarkable improvement of Cullison as well as patients being treated with RNL stem cells, Ra is committed to making RNL stem cell therapy an accessible and affordable treatment, globally.

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9 responses to “RNL Claims Stem Cell Treatment Relieved Arthritis”

Hello, have you looked into stem cells therapy? It seems to be very good: my friend worksin a clinic in Mexico where they give embryonic stem cells treatment and she told me they get better result than anything else… What’s your thought about this kind of treatment? Most people that i talk with are scared because it’s so new!

Basically the procedure is quite simple. Extract stemcells from fat. Injecting these stemcells with a special “glue” like matter into the effected area to make the stemcells hold and the body will repair itself.
The problem is that in many countries these procedures are not seen as operations which can be performed by doctors but as the release of new medicins which requires f.e. FDA approval.
If a surgeon is prepaired to execute this as a treatment it can pass and be legally executed.

I think using stem cells made from fat cells is something quite new and Mr. Cullison took his own risks in doing the treatment. I am not a doctor, but I think you should explore conventional methods before going to alternative methods, because some things work for some people but they may not for others.

Does anyone know the ball-park cost of the treatment John Culllison received in Korea?

Do I understand it correctly that he had to travel from Korea to China and back to Korea? That does not seem to be very efficient. Does it?

Does anyone know doctors in the USA, particularly in California who are doing this treatment?

There are no laws against autologous stem cell treatment in the USA. So, what prevents US doctors doing this treatment? Is it that insurance companies are not paying for it? But they are not paying the foreign doctors either. All comes from the pocket of the patient.

The cost depends on the number of stem cells required for the treatment. calling their local offices in california or maryland, and asking them for a quote would be best.

the traveling is due to the fact that these stem cell therapies are still not allowed to be done to humans in the US. until the ban is lifted, to receive treatment, one must travel to korea for initial testing, then to china(rnl’s own hospital), then back to korea for further evaluations.

other than the doctors working at the companies, i dont think any other doctors in the USA are doing this treatment.

D.Y. Wohn, Ph.D.

Dr. Wohn is an assistant professor at NJIT and director of the Social Interaction Lab (socialinteractionlab.com). Her research is in the area of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) where she studies the role of algorithms and social interactions in livestreaming, esports, gaming, and social media.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, Mozilla Foundation, and Yahoo, her main projects examine 1) content moderation, online harassment and the creation of safe spaces, 2) social exchange in digital economies, which include the transactions of emotional, informational, and financial support, and 3) news consumption via social media.